Index of Locally Recorded Content

• US 20120173536A1
• Filed: 12/01/2011
• Published: 07/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shahraray, Behzad, Gibbon, David, Begeja, Lee, Liu, Zhu, Cox, Richard V., Renger, Bernard S.
• Granted Patent: US 8,533,210 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/741
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/71 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/743 a collection of video files or sequences
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4325 by playing back content from the storage medium reproduction of recorded television signals H04N5/76; reproduction of recorded television signals H04N9/79
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4332 by placing content in organized collections, e.g. local EPG data repository interfaces, Database management systems or updating for information retrieval G06F16/23; details of retrieval of video data and associated meta data in video database G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8455 involving pointers to the content, e.g. pointers to the I-frames of the video stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/914 Video
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/915 Image
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/916 Audio

Abstract

A method to index recorded content at a media device includes extracting, at a remote service provider, event index data from an event being recorded at a media device and associating the event index data with locator code data of the event. The method further includes storing, at the remote service provider, the extracted event index data and the associated locator code data; searching the extracted event index data for a plurality of segments associated with the event, the search being associated with a search request; determining index display data for a presentation of the plurality of segments based on the search request; and transmitting, to the media device, the locator code data associated with the plurality of segments, and the index display data.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

at least one memory storing computer instructions; and

at least one processor in communication with the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor when executing the computer instructions performs operations comprising;

generating event index data from a media event in response to the media event being recorded by an end user media device, the media event comprising video content;

generating locator code data for the event index data, wherein the locator code data comprises timing information and access information for the event index data;

storing the generated event index data and the locator code data in the at least one memory;

searching the generated event index data to identify a segment of the media event in response to receiving a search request;

determining segment locator code data from the locator code data based on the identified segment; and

transmitting over a network to the end user media device the segment locator code data that corresponds to the identified segment of the media event, wherein the transmitted segment locator code data is configured to enable the end user media device to extract an image from the recorded media event for generating an index display using the extracted image.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the event index data comprises images and text extracted from the recorded media event.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the transmitted segment locator code data is configured to enable the end user media device to extract text from the recorded media event for generating the index display using the extracted text.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the search request is received from the end user media device, and wherein the segment locator code data is transmitted over the network to the end user media device without transmitting the event index data.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor when executing the computer instructions performs the operations comprising:

generating index display data comprising formatting information for the index display; and

transmitting over the network to the end user media device the generated index display data.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the formatting information comprises a presentation order in the index display for the extracted image among other extracted images.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the segment locator code data is transmitted over the network to the end user media device with the media event.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the timing information of the locator code data includes a start time and an end time of the identified segment that is synchronized with the recorded media event.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the network comprises an internet protocol television network, and wherein the segment locator code data is transmitted over the network to the end user media device with an electronic program guide.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the segment locator code data comprises a broadcast channel of the identified segment.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the segment locator code data is transmitted with the media event and wherein the segment locator code data is transmitted on a bandwidth that is lower than a bandwidth of the media event.

12. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising computer instructions, which when executed by at least one processor cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

generating event index data from media events that comprise video content;

generating locator code data for the event index data;

storing the generated event index data and the generated locator code data in at least one memory device;

searching a portion of the generated event index data to identify at least one segment of the media events in response to receiving a search request from an end user media device, wherein the portion of event index data searched corresponds to at least one media event that is recorded at the end user media device;

determining segment locator code data from the locator code data based on the identified at least one segment; and

transmitting over a network to the end user media device the segment locator code data that corresponds to the identified at least one segment, wherein the transmitted segment locator code data is configured to enable the end user media device to extract content from the recorded at least one media event for generating an index display using the extracted content.

13. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the locator code data comprises a start time for the identified at least one segment, a stop time for the identified at least one segment, and access point information for the identified at least one segment.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the segment locator code data is transmitted over the network to the end user media device without transmitting the event index data.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 12, comprising computer instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor cause the at least one processor to perform the operations comprising:

generating index display data comprising formatting information for the index display; and

transmitting over the network to the end user media device the generated index display data along with one of the media events that corresponds to the recorded at least one media event.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the formatting information comprises a presentation order in the index display for the locally extracted content among other locally extracted content.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the extracted content comprises an image.

18. A method comprising:

generating event index data from media events that comprise video content, the event index data being generated by at least one server;

generating locator code data for the event index data, the locator code data being generated by the at least one server;

providing the generated event index data and the locator code data from the at least one server to at least one memory device for storage;

searching the generated event index data to identify at least one segment of the media events in response to receiving a search request;

determining segment locator code data from the locator code data based on the identified at least one segment; and

transmitting over a network to the end user media device the segment locator code data that corresponds to the identified at least one segment, wherein the transmitted segment locator code data is configured to enable the end user media device to extract an image from at least one recorded media event for generating an index display using the extracted image.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the searching is limited to a portion of the event index data that corresponds to media events recorded at the end user media device.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the search request is received by the at least one server from the end user media device.